Museum of: Budapest
    Name of the artefact: Magic tools (Shaman artefacts)
   
Magic tools from the Late Bronze Age cemetery at Budapest, Békásmegyer.
                                 
 
WHERE IS IT AND MAIN CHARACTERISTICS
  
STATE
Department:
Prehistoric Department
Preservation:
 Very good
 
Inventory number:
62.26.19-24, 29, 36, 37, 39, 59, 331, 66.14.10, 75
Restauration:
 Restored
Name of the artefact:
Magic tools (Shaman artefacts)
Completeness:
 Complete
Object type:
Tool
  
Material:
clay
Methof of manufacture:
Hand made<
Decoration type:
No decoration
Distinctive mark:
-
DIMENSIONS
  
PERIOD OF USE
Length (mm):
20-80 mm
Epoque:
Late Bronze Age
Heigth (mm):
-
Culture:
Urnfield culture
Diameter (mm):
-
Period:
Late
Width (mm):
20-80 mm
Face:
4.
Thickness (mm):
-
Absolute chronology:
1000-900 BC
Weight (g):
-
DISCOVERY
Date:
1961
Country:
Hungary
District:
-
Town hall affiliation:
Budapest
 
Village:
-
Discovery findspot:
Budapest, III. district Békásmegyer, Vöröshadsereg
Condition of discovery:
Archaeological excavation
Discovery type:
Grave
 
ANALYSES – DETERMINATIONS
 
FILLED IN BY
Type:
-
Name:
Gábor Szilas
Laboratory:
-
Institution:
Budapest History Museum
No./Code:
-
Date:
20/01/2006
 
DEEPENINGS

Morphology of the object:
Shaped like half-moon, star, thorn, disc, wheel, spoon, pear, horn or funnel clay objects.

Decoration:
-

Inscription:
-

Analogies:
-

Interpretation:
According to some opinions these clay objects were sorcery tools, accessories of rituals related to fertility cults. They depict astral symbols (sun, moon, stars, etc.) and they were probably held in the hand or attached to something by their handles. The planets and stars were attributed supernatural powers probably in the hope of receiving rich harvest and future well-being. The objects shown here could have been material visualisation of these astral phenomena. In one of the urns of grave number 14, supposedly the grave of a sorcerer, 23 objects were found that probably composed the toolkit of a local shaman, a sorcerer.
Bibliography:
Nagy László: A tüzikutya és holdidol kérdése magyarországi leletek alapján. Veszprém Megyei Múzeumok Közleményei 14 (1979) 17-73. Kalicz-Schreiber, Rózsa: Die spätbronzezitliche Gräberfeld in Budapest. Praehistorische Zeitschrift 1991. 161-196.